EFFECTS AND USES OF SPIDER POISON. 



;/o 



Lucas 

 Denies. 



very same spider. He states that he had studied the habits of Latrodec- 

 tus in Algeria, where it is frequently found, and that he never observed 

 that its bite was venomous, although he himself had been bitten 

 several times without any bad effect. ^ Can it be that the very 

 state of mind in wdiich the naturalist approaches the inquiry 

 neutralizes the poison by nullifying the effects of an excited imagination ? 

 In the entomological journal known as " Insect Life," issued by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture,^ there is an excellent article 

 giving the evidence for and against the possibility of a fatal bite from 

 our common spiders. In this article two cases which appear to be well 



the effects of the bite of 



New 



Zealand 



Katipo. 



authenticated are given of 

 Latrodectus mactans, as 

 One of them resulted fatal 

 The symptoms of the 

 of the victims were negroes, 

 from Mr. F. W. 

 ber of cases from 

 one variety of 

 and describes a 

 practice, which, however, 

 He considers that the symp 

 himself make it evident 

 fully affected by a narcot 

 being absorbed into circu 

 brain, and nervous system 

 tent, almost amounting to 

 was treated with spirits of 

 wound, and witli ammonia 

 bined with brandy in con 

 Mr. Wright adds that 

 quainted with these spi 

 sidered their bite very dan 



e 



Fig. 252. Varied markings 

 of the abdomen, b, c, d, 

 e, f, g, upper side of abdo- 

 men ; h, underside of the 

 specimen marked g ; e, f, 

 g, h are enlarged two, c 

 and d three times, b four 

 times the original. 



found in North Carolina, 

 ly, and tlie other seriously, 

 bite are fully detailed. Both 

 The same article quotes 

 Wright,^ who gives a num- 

 hearsay of fatal bites by 

 spider in New Zealand, 

 serious case in his own 

 did not result in death, 

 toms of the case treated by 

 that the man was power- 

 ic and acid poison, which 

 lation affected the heart, 

 to a very considerable ex- 

 fatal syncope. The man 

 ammonia, applied to the 

 and water, afterward coni- 

 siderable doses internally, 

 the Maories are well ac- 

 ders, and have always con- 

 gerous. The tufts of sedge 



upon the sea beach are the favorite haunts of the red spotted variety, and 

 the natives avoid sleci)ing in such places. Half a stone's throw inland, 

 however, they do not fear the " Katipo," as they call the aranead. This 

 statement appears to me to throw discredit upon the entire testimony of 

 the natives, for it is not possible to believe that the venomous character 

 of the spider can be affected by a simj^le removal from the sedgy growth 

 along the seashore to the herbage half a stone's throw inland. 



Mr. Gosse* records the effect produced upon one of his servants who 



^ Annals Entomological Society of France, 184.3, page S. 



2 jngp(.t Life, Vol. I., No. 7, pages 204-11. 



^ Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 1809. 



^ P. H. Gosse : Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica, page 241. 



